Acer is splashing its cash on a US-based cloud company called iGware.
The Taiwanese manufacturer is shelling out $320 million for iGware, plus another $75 million for its “performance-based earn-out”.
Like everyone else on the planet, Acer will use an acquisition to launch itself into a cloud business. It will call it, er, Acer Cloud.
The new arm will allow people to manage devices such PCs, tablets and smartphones by integrating them together, says Acer. It wasn't willing to say much more, according to a spokesperson who claims that there is "nothing further to add".
Acer's reasoning for setting up in the cloud is because it recognises the stuff as an industry trend. A company without cloud-based technology, says Acer, will have difficulty in enhancing its company value.
iGware isn't a band of aliens led by Oderus Urungus. iGware was chosen for the fact that it supports over 100 million consumer devices worldwide including Nintendo’s Wii, iDS and 3DS.
Products using iGware's technology will turn up in 2012, Acer says. It will work with existing partners while also putting it to use with Acer's pals.
The acquisition, according to Acer, is a mid to long term investment and won't have an impact on short term profits or revenues.
It plans to kick off its Cloud arm by 2012 by integrating the iGware technology into its products.
